Author Jeanne Thornton performs her novel with a charming casualness that will immediately draw listeners in. In 1998, three queer teenagers bond over creating video games in the early days of Internet chat rooms. Nineteen years later they are all trans women in their 30s, and though they've lost touch and never met in person, they're still haunted by the game they never finished. Thornton's narration is intimate but understated. She uses similar voices for the three main characters, but with enough variation that they sound like distinct people. She's especially good at capturing the rhythms of online communication. This is a heartfelt, melancholy, and insightful novel about early Internet culture, nostalgia, queer and trans identity, and the physical and virtual spaces that shape us.
Pub Date: April 1, 2025
Duration: 15 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9798895941102
Publisher: Recorded Books Inc.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2026
Three strong women fight for every voice to be heard.
Fein’s novel, inspired by the encrypted Voynich Manuscript, introduces three women and a 400-year struggle to free women’s voices and fight censorship. Emma Feeney narrates as Lysbette, a young orphan in the 1520s. Feeney’s voice grows in power as Lysbette slowly gains confidence in her value, writes her story as myth, and struggles to ensure it outlives her. Ell Potter is the confident, feisty Charlotte, owner of a printshop dedicated to fighting censorship in 1550s Paris. When Lysbette enters her shop, Charlotte faces her biggest challenge. Fast-forward to 1952. Fiona Hardingham gives Milly a frustrated yet insistent voice as Lysbette’s manuscript gives her a new mission, using skills sharpened as a codebreaker in wartime England.
Three strong women fight for every voice to be heard.
Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2026
Duration: 11 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9780063411449
Publisher: Harper Audio
Review Posted Online: today
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2026
A resonant listening experience rich with biting social commentary.
Narrator Katharine Chin elevates this contemporary coming-of-age story featuring four Asian American friends. Diana, Justin, Errol, and Vivian all attended great schools and earned good grades, but in the aftermath of graduating into the Great Recession of 2008, they find themselves unemployed and living at home. Grace, a former classmate, makes a YouTube video about the group and their failure to meet expectations called “Bad Asians.” The video goes viral, upending their lives in the early days of the internet. Chin brings each character distinctly to life through subtle tonal shifts. Her reflective tone conveys the story’s thought-provoking exploration of identity, cultural expectations, and the meaning of success.
A resonant listening experience rich with biting social commentary.Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2026
Duration: 10 hrs, 45 mins
DD ISBN: 9781250433244
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Review Posted Online: Feb. 10, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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